Saving Grace
by ellabella89
Summary: Jamie Bennett has grown up to have a good life and a family, but not without a touch of heartbreak. His daughter believes in the Guardians. How will the combined forces of Jack and his daughter turn his life around? JamiexJack friendship, Bunnymund appears, a cute little OCC. Oneshot for now, will be continued at a later date!


_Well hello there. Ever since watching Rise of the Guardians, I knew I had to write something about it. This is a oneshot for now, until I have more time. That won't be for a few more weeks, but it will happen. _

_I'm sure you'll figure it all out as you read. Enjoy!_

* * *

I was looking around the forest for the tracks that I'd been following for the past forty five minutes. But suddenly they just ended, disappearing into thin air. My young mind ran rampant with ideas of what could have possibly happened. Did it fly away? Did it jump into a tree? Did it teleport? All of these were valid reasons as I knelt down to examine them.

The snow was pristine around the area, the wind still and silent. I thought I could hear the hibernating animals' slow breathing, that's how peaceful it was in the forest. There was a bright yellow flower where the tracks ended as well, which puzzled me more. Spring wasn't here yet.

In front of me was a giant footprint, at least two feet long. It was like an upside down triangle with 3 large toes. I had initially thought they were kangaroo tracks until I realized that I didn't live in Australia. But a kangaroo was still an option, had one escaped from the zoo. I had an idea to figure out what it was. I studied it carefully before running back to the direction of my home. It took a few minutes before I got there, having wandered a ways away. Dashing inside, I found my notebook and a nearly dry purple marker and drew the shape of the track. My daddy would know what kind of the track it is. He was good at this stuff.

Once I finished, I ripped the page out of the book before bounding upstairs to find my father. He was sleeping so I crept in quietly before jumping on him.

"Amelia, what do you want?" he groaned at me, rubbing his face with his hand without opening his eyes. I giggled as he pushed me over playfully on the bed before telling him my story.

"I was being an explorer in the forest-" Dad cut me off.

"Not near the lake, right?"

"Of course not daddy, I know it's dangerous." I rolled my eyes in exasperation. My dad needed constant reassurance that I wasn't near the lake every time I went outside. It started to get annoying. I re-continued my story.

"So I was being an explorer and I found these big tracks daddy. I remembered them and drew one for you, so you can tell me what it is!" I explained, holding the picture up. He had opened his eyes and held the paper still so he could identify it.

"That's a bunny footprint."

"Woah!" I exclaimed, my eyes growing distant as I tried to imagine how big the bunny would have been. Snapping back, I gave my daddy a kiss on the cheek before crawling off the bed. I yelled him my thanks before heading back downstairs.

The rabbit tracks were bigger than snowshoes! I thought of what type of rabbit might do that, and then an idea finally sprung on me.

_The Easter bunny!_

Giggling in my delight, I immediately set to work drawing the Easter bunny in the wood, hiding the eggs. I frowned as I thought of the time of year. It wasn't anywhere close to Easter time. Why would he be here already? Shrugging, I reasoned that he was scouting hiding places for the eggs before the holiday.

A cool blast of wind whistled around the house. I froze before relaxing into a smile.

_Jack Frost._

My mommy told me about him, so I knew all about him. He was a mischievous spirit that made the patterns in the windows and the tips of your ears go rosy. I liked him because he sounded like he enjoyed adventures as much as me. I hummed tune I never heard before, before signing my name on my finished picture. The Easter bunny has his long ears and a basket of eggs, with ginormous feet. He had a nice smile and I think he would like adventures too.

I skipped to my room so I could hang the picture up with the rest of my favourites. Santa Claus was already up there with his elves, and beside him was the tooth fairy. Her wings were like a butterfly's and had a bunch of butterflies surrounding her. Underneath her picture was one of Sandman. I drew him like a circle, since I didn't know what he looked like, and then all of my favourite dreams around him, as if he was going to bring them to me soon.

The last picture that was already posted on the wall was Jack Frost, his hair white and his eyes blue, like the colors of winter. He had what daddy called a smirk on his face, since I was trying to make him look mischievous. I put Easter Bunny's picture underneath his, taping the corners carefully, if not a bit crooked. I smiled at my collection, trying to think of someone else I would love. Maybe the little man at the end of a rainbow...what did daddy call him again? Oh yeah, a leprechaun. I giggled at the name before leaving my room to find a snack in the kitchen.

Daddy had to work two jobs since mommy died, so now he asks me to let him sleep whenever I can. My auntie Sophie would come by after school to look after me until dad came home. She would stay the night if he was working early in the morning to fix me breakfast and make sure my hair was done before school. Right now we were on Winter break and my daddy had the day off. He was catching up on sleep, but promised that we would play together after his nap.

I scrunched my nose as I looked in the fridge for something to eat. Not finding anything, I moved to the cupboard where a box of cookies was waiting for me. I smiled before scraping a chair across the floor to reach the treat. Sitting myself down right there, I looked out the window while chewing thoughtfully.

It made me sad that my daddy wasn't there to play all the time. It wasn't like that before mommy died. I knew she was beautiful because of the pictures of us as a family were all over the house. I know daddy lost his smile every time he looked at them, but I think he kept them up for me to remember her. She was the one that told me about the Sandman and Jack Frost. My daddy would always smile really big when she did tell me the stories, as if he had met them in real life. Once, I asked my mommy if I could meet them, and she said that if I believed really hard, then maybe I would see them outside my window. That was the last memory I had of her, before she went to the hospital. She didn't look like mommy when I saw her again in there, and I tried not to think of her that way. Daddy explained that she was really sick and I had to stay strong for her, so she could get better. I thought I was being super strong, but she didn't get better and then she went to sleep. According to Daddy, she was sleeping forever. Lots of people came to our house with food, but they never brought my mommy back. Daddy was really sad, usually crying in his room and Auntie Sophie was here a lot. After a while, Daddy stopped crying. He started hugging me super tight whenever he saw me, and started working a lot more.

It has been a year since mommy died, and that's why daddy had today off. He asked me to bring him the phone this morning because he was too sad to go to work. I gave him a kiss before returning my cartoons, since I couldn't miss Arthur.

I finished three cookies without realising and before my daddy found out, I shoved them back into the cupboard. I turned around quickly when I heard a noise. I pressed myself against the cupboard door breathing hard in fear, when I realised I was hearing a murmur upstairs. It sounded like my daddy talking on the phone. Looking around, I saw the handset on the base. I frowned in confusion. Who was he talking to?

Getting off my chair, I pushed it back to its place at the table as quietly as I could. I followed my dad's voice to his room upstairs knowingly avoiding the creaky floorboards. Feeling like a spy, I walked slowly to the door. Peaking around the frame, I saw my daddy sitting up in bed away from the door, the window wide open. A breeze flew past me, and I shivered, but never took my eyes off my dad.

All the sudden, a boy was at his window. My eyes grew large as he climbed through the window and gave my dad a hug. I watched as my dad returned the hug for a long time. I saw the boy holding a giant stick, with a curve at the top, and he wore a blue hoodie. His hair was white as Grandpa's. My jaw dropped in realization.

My dad was hugging Jack Frost.

Forgetting about being sneaky, I pushed open the door, letting the creak sound. Jack opened his eyes to see what caused the noise before a look of surprise crossed his face. My dad had released Jack from the hug to look at me.

"Amelia. I guess I should have known you would hear me." He scratched the back of his head like he was nervous before glancing at Jack.

"Let me introduce you to an old friend of mine. This is –"

"Jack Frost!" I squealed, running across the room to hug him. I could only reach his legs, but I hugged him tight, not one to pass up an opportunity like this. I heard both him and my dad chuckle and felt a hand ruffle my hair. Tilting my head back, I sent him a big smile, ecstatic that I finally got to meet one of the guys my mommy told me about.

"Hey there." Jack said, bending at the waist to break the hold I had on his legs before crouching down to my level. He used his stick to support him, and I finally got to see his eyes. Blue. A pretty blue, just like mommy said.

"What's your name?" He asked softly, poking my nose.

"Amelia. Amelia Hope Bennett." I stated proudly. "I know all about you! My mommy told me who you are before she..." I trailed off, looking at my dad. I gestured for Jack to lean in, which he complied, and finished my sentence in a whisper. "died. But it makes daddy sad, so I can't talk about it." I leaned back, looking at him solemnly. His face became serious and he nodded.

"That's why I'm here, Amelia. I'm your dad's friend, and friends are supposed to help each other. I'm going to help your dad not be so sad." I smiled at the prospect before looking to my dad in anticipation.

"Do you think you could help me?" Jack asked, and I looked back at him.

"What do I have to do?"

"Just have a little fun. Think you're up to it?"

I nodded excitedly, bouncing in place.

"Alright, let's go. I'll meet you outside, okay?"

I nodded my head with more vigour, watching as he gave my dad a certain look before heading out the window with a gust of wind. Papers in my dad's room flew all around us, and my hair felt all messy.

"Come on daddy. We need to go see Jack Frost and have fun." His hand in mind, I lead him to our winter gear where we methodically put it on before heading outside.

"Jack!" I called, looking all around for the boy.

"Here." I turned around. He was perched in a tree, twirling the staff in his hands, his face to the sky. He finally looked at us and jumped from the tree. He looked like a lanky monkey when did that. I tried to hide my smile so he wouldn't know I was laughing at him. I made myself focus.

"What are we going to do first?" I asked, walking up to take his hand as well as my dads, leading them into the forest.

"Are you up for a little sled ride?"

"Uh, I don't think so Jack..." I heard my dad say. I looked up to glare at him.

"Why not!?" I demanded. I was allowed to sled any other time.

I heard Jack laugh before dropping my hand to walk ahead of us. He started swirling his stick at the ground and I watched as snowflakes shot out of it in a flurry, blocking what was happening to the ground.

"When I was a boy, Jack took me on a sled ride that ended up knocking out one of my teeth."

"You had fun Jamie, don't lie." Jack interjected.

"Woah! Can we do that?" I asked Jack excitedly. "I haven't lost a tooth yet and I want to get a treat from the Tooth fairy!"

Changing tactics, I turned to my dad.

"Please daddy! I really want to see the Tooth fairy. And you're supposed to have fun today. What's more fun than someone losing a tooth?"

My dad huffed, causing little clouds to come from his mouth. He glared at Jack who just continued causing a miniature flurry against the ground.

"Fine, but if she loses more than two teeth, I will file a complaint to the Man in the Moon."

"Three teeth and we have a deal."

"Jack!"

He chuckled, "alright, alright, no more than two teeth will be knocked out. Now let's go!"

He lifted his staff to show the ice toboggan that he had created. Laughing, I ran at it, throwing myself onto it. The force started it forward down a small hill, and Jack whooped before guiding the sled through the trees on an icy path.

I squealed in delight as we took sharp turns and went off high jumps. Jack was carefully planning our course, looking back at me and smiling wide. I was already returning it, and lifted my hands in enjoyment. The look that crossed Jack's face made me realise I had made a mistake, and before I knew it, I was flying through the air, the toboggan breaking against a tree as I was still projected. I started getting really scared when I realised I was heading straight for a tree.

Bracing myself for impact, I closed my eyes tight. There was a shout, probably my dad, and then I crashed. But it wasn't into a tree; it was rather soft that made an "oof" sound. Opening my eyes, I saw that I had slammed into Jack. He had one arm wrapped around me, the other holding onto a branch above us.

"Well, that was certainly exciting wasn't it?" Jack commented after a moment of silence. I breathed a laugh, before something occurred to me.

"Jack, how are we gonna get down?"

"What an excellent question. I would just make a snow pile for us to fall into, but I dropped my staff when I caught you." I looked down and confirmed that he was staff-less.

"So, we are in a bit of a situation. Could you do something for me?" I nodded, looking at him for instruction.

"Not to be mean, but you are kinda heavy. Could you wrap your arms and legs around me, so I can hold onto the branch with two hands? Make sure you hold on tight, I don't want you to fall." I nodded again before wrapping my arms around him in a hug and my legs around his skinny waist. I felt his arm leave as it stretched to grab the branch.

"One more thing. We need to call for your dad really loud, alright?"

I giggled, and nodded.

"On the count of three... one, two, three!"

"DADDY!"

"JAMIE!"

We shouted and then listened for a response. There was a snap of branches and then some heavy breaths.

"Oh hey there, Jamie. You see, we're kinda in a situation."

"Yeah, I see. I take this isn't a part of your plan, much like the rogue couch?"

"You know me too well. Have any suggestions?"

"I'll catch Amelia, you can just fall.

"How nice."

I heard Jack blow a raspberry at my dad before talking to me.

"Hear that, Amelia? You're gonna let go and your dad's gonna catch you, okay?"

"Okay." I agreed before letting go of Jack.

"WAIT-!"

But it was too late, I was already falling. I couldn't see my dad from where I was, so how was I supposed to know he wasn't ready to catch me? But much like how Jack did, I landed on my dad, knocking his feet out from under him and throwing us both to the ground.

I started laughing at our situation, and soon I heard my dad join in. His laugh was the best, loud and annoying, but it was never forced or fake. I heard Jack laughing from his place in the tree, a cackle that sounded like he enjoyed seeing my dad in pain. I rolled off my dad during my laughing fit, and now we both lay in the snow, calming down slowly. We heard Jack drop from the tree, a soft thunk as he hit the ground. I didn't move my head as I watched him walk up to us before dropping down to lie on beside me.

The three of us sat in silence, listening to the quiet of the winter. My dad was the one to finally break it.

"Next time, wait until I say I'm ready, okay?"

"Okay daddy."

A few more minutes of silence occurred before I remembered something.

"Hey, Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know the Easter Bunny?" I turned my head to look at him for a response.

"Oh, you mean the Easter Kangaroo? Yeah, I've worked with him a few times." A smile grew on his face as answered.

"He's a kangaroo!?" Laughing now, Jack corrected me.

"No, not really. I just like to call him that to annoy him. Why are you asking?"

"I saw some giant bunny footprints today. I thought he might have made them."

I had turned my head back so I missed the way Jack's brow furrowed in confusion.

"He was here? That's odd, unless..." he trailed off.

"I already talked to him today." My dad said suddenly, making me jump. I had forgotten there were three of us. Jack nodded, his face clearing. I finally registered what he had said. I scrambled up onto my knees, looking my dad in the face.

"You already talked to him today!? The Easter Bunny?! Why didn't you introduce me!? Daddy, that's so not fair!" I slumped back in defeat. Now my dad will say he's in love with the Tooth Fairy and works with the Sandman, the way he's going through them today. Heck, he's probably pen pals with Santa.

"He already saw you in the forest, Amelia. He didn't want to bother you since you looked so busy." He started to smile then, and I huffed in frustration. I was busy trying to figure out where he went to!

"Can I still meet him?"

"Someday, princess. Someday."

"We can go there now."

I looked over at Jack. He had propped himself up on his elbow, leaning towards me and my dad.

"Do you really think that's a good idea? I mean, he must be busy..." my dad questioned, leaving me more and more flabbergasted. (I learned that word from Aunt Sophie. I thought it was hilarious.) He was making excuses to why we _couldn't_ go see the Easter Bunny?

"Jamie, it's like four months before Easter. He works with perishables. He can't really plan that far in advanced. And I'm sure he'll be happy to see us."

"Please daddy! I won't love you anymore if you don't let me go meet the Easter Bunny. Please!" I begged.

"Well, if my child's love for me is on the line, I guess we better go then, huh?"

I started cheering, jumping to my feet and clapping my mitten covered hands.

"Let's go!" I pulled on Jack's staff and my dad's coat, trying to get them off the ground.

"Alright, but I have to get him to open a tunnel for us. I can't fly your dad anywhere, he's too fat."

We all chuckled. Within minutes, Jack had led us to the lake, claiming he knew of a tunnel just around it so it would be faster. Then, Jack was taking off, and me and my dad were left sitting on a log that faced the lake.

"I like Jack." I confided in him.

"Me too. He makes a good friend."

"How did you become friends?"

"I was his first believer. I was a few years older than you, and I seriously doubted the Easter Bunny after there were no eggs at Easter. Jack drew pictures in my window that made me lose my doubts and gain a belief in him. Then there was a battle against the boogey man and my friends and I helped out the rest of the Guardians beat him."

"Guardians?" I never heard that term before.

"Yeah, made up of the Easter Bunny, Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and their newest member, Jack Frost."

"Woah! They all know each other? You met all of them?!" I looked at my daddy in awe. "That's like the coolest thing ever!"

"Yeah, twenty five years later, and it's still the coolest thing ever. Well, that, and your mother of course."

I grew silent, not knowing how to respond. My dad never brought her up himself, but he would answer whatever question I had about her. He would never tell me how he felt about what happened and he would usually just grow quiet if I asked that in particular. Perplexed (another great word from Aunt Sophie) I just waited quietly.

"She was beautiful, your mother. We met in high school, and that whole time I never stopped believing in the Guardians. Jack would always stop by, but by that age, everyone thought I was going crazy, talking to air. But she didn't. She would ask me about them, and I would tell her the stories that made up my childhood. Finally, she found me talking to Jack and said 'Oh, so _that's_ what you look like. Jamie is terrible at describing things.'" My dad smiled at the memory, his eyes looking over the lake.

"She started to believe and once Jack figured that out, he introduced her to the rest of the people. We were married after high school but we just had adventures for a while. Travelling, sailing, backpacking - having the time of our life. Then we found out about you." He tore his eyes from the lake to nudge me and smile. I smiled, glad that I was finally apart of the story. "We were surprised, but happy to realise we needed to settle down. We returned home, bought this property, which, we found out, is where Jack used to live. Then you came into the world and we couldn't be happier. Your Aunt Sophie spoiled you rotten. We had plans to have more kids, some siblings for you to play with. But then we just sort of forget, when raising you. And then last year..." He stopped. I looked at him to see his eyes still dry, but he still didn't say anything for a minute.

"Amelia, you have to understand that your mother fought for _you_." He started, turning his body and looked me in the eye. "When she got sick, the only thing that kept her from dying for months was the fact that you wouldn't have a mother if she left. You were the one that kept her alive, and I am so thankful for that. But sometimes, even the brightest beams of light can't destroy the darkness." Finally, a tear escaped his eye and rolled down his cheek. My chin started to shake as I tried to be strong for him like I did so many times after she died.

"But she's happy now. And now she's keeping you safe, like a guardian angel. The Guardians are keeping you safe too, even if you haven't seen them. They cared about your mother, and they care about you too."

I nodded, understanding what my dad was saying to me. My tears started to fall too and I was pulled into a tight hug.

"The Guardians will always care about you, Daddy. And mommy's still your guardian angel too." I whispered to him, hugging him even tighter.

I heard a throat being cleared, but I held up a hand, telling whoever it was to wait a minute. My daddy needed to feel better first.

"Thank you princess. Sometimes daddy needs to be reminded of that."

"That's what I'm here for." I tried to joke, and successfully gained a laugh from him. "I love you."

"I love you too." I felt him kiss my hair, and then let go of me.

One we pulled back, we were greeted by the Easter Bunny and Jack Frost.

"Everything all right here?" the Easter Bunny asked, his accent making me smile wide.

"Everything's okay! Right, daddy?" I looked at him and he was quickly wiping away his tears. "He's fine, I just fixed him." I slid off the log to walk up to the Easter Bunny. "Woah..." he was even taller close up!

He crouched down; much like Jack did for me, and smiled.

"What's your name little Shelia?"

"Amelia Hope Bennet. What's your name?" I asked without thinking, looking at the cool designs on his fur and the boomerangs on his back. He chuckled before poking me in the stomach.

"You can call me Bunny. Your Aunt Sophie gave me the nickname a while ago."

"Aunt Sophie knows you guys too!?" I looked back to my dad, my jaw dropped wide. He nodded with a smile, and I turned back to non-fictional characters in front of me.

"I have the coolest family ever." I stated, no other conclusion more clear.

Everyone laughed, looking at each other and nodding in agreement. When they quieted down, Jack spoke up.

"Alright then, what are we waiting for?"

I grabbed my daddy's hand and Bunny's hand, swinging them between us as we took a few steps closer to the tunnel and hesitated. I peered down, seeing soft green grass lining the walls of the hole.

"Let's go!" I yelled as I jumped, unable to wait any longer. I didn't let go of my dad's and Bunny's hands, dragging them behind me. They gave shouts of alarm before we started falling very quickly.

We hit the ground in pile, the older guys moaning in pain. I sprung up very quickly, looking up the tunnel to see Jack leaning against his staff as he guffawed.

"Oy, if you keep up that laughing, I'm going to whack you in the head with that bloody stick!" Bunny threatened as he got up and glared at Jack.

"It's just..." he laughed again before continuing. "this kid is just awesome..." he gestured to me before he started laughing again.

"Come on! I want to see everything!"

I took off down the tunnel, following the bright light that led to the warren.

The adults watched as I ran away before talking to each other.

"She's great." Jack said with endearment.

"Yeah, full of energy, that one." Bunny gripped, rubbing his back where he landed.

"I can't forget how much she's like her mother."

"You bet. Got her mum's curiosity."

"And eyes."

"And laugh."

"I know." Jamie cut in with a smile, counting his blessings. He looked to his friends and started after his daughter.

Bunny and Jack shared a smile, glad their friend was finally out of sorts.

Amelia was his saving grace.

* * *

_How was it? Too sappy? Too corny? Too awesome? Let me know in a review. Remember that this is prolly going to get expanded so Amelia gets to meet all the Guardians eventually. I hope you all enjoyed it. And who didn't fall in love with Jack Frost. Like seriously, he was like a cool Hiccup from How to Train your Dragon. Those are my thoughts, I'll leave you alone now._

_Love, Ella_


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